Louie Gutierrez: The urban farmer who turns greens into gold
Silverworks founder Louie Gutierrez is a jeweler who turns brown soil and green plants into a gold mine for others.
He made his fortune with his Silverworks chain of jewelry stores and counters, but he feels his true wealth lies in urban farming.
Louie has a master’s from the Asian Institute of Management and a gemology degree under his belt, but during the pandemic, he began to question the true meaning of success.
“The pandemic made me think, what is my purpose? What is really my heart’s purpose? Before the pandemic, I kept on putting up stores. That was success for me. Opening new stores, increasing sales. But during the pandemic, I realized, ‘This can be gone in one click. Everything can be gone in one click. What will our lives be all about? What is our purpose here? This is not only the thing that I can do.’ When I realized that, farming became my purpose.”
There was a vacant lot near his house in the heart of an exclusive village in Makati and Louie and his beautiful (and blooming) wife Maye, a former Cathay Pacific flight attendant, inquired from its owner if they could use it to plant vegetables. The owner agreed. Soon, Louie was supplying vegetables to his neighbors and giving temporary jobs to Silverworks’ staff.
Maye, on the other hand, started making eye-catching arrangements and centerpieces from the fresh produce of their urban farm. She makes special arrangements upon request.
After the pandemic, a big boost was a 1,500-square-meter lot in the Bonifacio Global City, near St. Luke’s and S & R. Louie spoke to the Fort Bonifacio Development Corp., and after obtaining a permit from the Taguig City Hall, he and his volunteer farmers transformed that piece of land in the urban jungle into an oasis that grows and abundance of vegetables and herbs—from arugula to ampalaya. They called themselves “The Urban Farmers.”
And the good thing was, Louie didn’t have to give up his so-called “day job” in Silverworks.
“I realized it was possible to balance your business and your advocacy. A lot of people would say, ‘I’d like to help but I’m busy.’ But it’s possible to be busy and still help,” he realized.
His happy place isn’t in a mountain resort in Switzerland or a beach in the Maldives.
It’s right there in the heart of BGC, where vegetables grow on pads, vines crawl, and passion fruit vines form a bowery under which Louie has a long wooden table where he serves Kapampangan breakfast to guests. Beside the passion fruit trellis is a greenhouse filled with upscaled furniture from Louie’s collection—some genuine antiques, others, repurposed from crates used in warehouses.
Here, Louie and his urban farmers served us a pot of tea made of tarragon leaves steeped in hot water. It was very soothing.
“This place brings life, especially in a place where full of buildings,” says Louie of his “happy place.”
To me, it’s like the lungs of BGC.
In the BGC farm of Urban Farmers, you harvest your own greens. Arugula, costs P250 a pack, a fraction of what it costs elsewhere.
“But aside from the lower cost of the vegetables, it’s really the way they’re grown in a healthy, organic way. Because whatever you put into your body makes a difference,” Louie, a father of four, points out. “When you get sick, your medicine is more expensive than what you ate.”
Louie, Maye, and their children still eat meat, but always accompanied by vegetables.
“People always think of vegetables as being expensive, but when you really think about it, they make you healthy. You really have to change your thinking. It’s really a change in mindset. Because kids are used to eating from a box.”
The Urban Farmers, which he founded during the pandemic, also conducts workshops to young and old alike who want to learn how to start and sustain farm in the metropolis where space is scarce. “And when we do our workshops here, the kids are happy, because this is the first time they’re seeing a calamansi plant or an ampalaya hanging from a trellis.”
“When you’re able to inspire, especially young people, you can really say, this is my life. This is my life.
“With this advocacy, I really feel that when you do something good, blessings come from all over. And I can really attest to that. I used to work for my company for 18 hours. But now, probably half and half, I stay here and there. Sometimes, I work more hours here at the farm. And it doesn’t feel like work. At first, I was worried that if I don’t personally manage Silverworks, it might collapse.”
But lo and behold. The grass became greener for his business.
“Despite spending more time at the farm and giving workshops, we’ve opened four new Silverworks stores this fourth quarter… despite the fact that I am here, working with the farmers. There’s good karma in doing good.”
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Louie has recruited several urban farmers. Among them is Patrick, who, after having finished a degree in Agriculture in a Metro Manila university, didn’t have enough funds to review for the board exams.
He was referred to the Urban Farmers by a classmate, and there, he found not only financial support but a chance to spread his advocacy. All of the farmers who work at the farm in BGC have a salary.
“That’s the reason we charge for workshops, consultancy, and the vegetables we sell. Because that’s how we create our income,” Louie explains.
“Actually, my work here is not totally for money. I really want to improve my skills. Agriculture is the backbone of our society. If we don’t have farmers, we don’t have food,” says Patrick.
Patrick now lectures on urban farming in several nearby international schools.
“That’s why I’m very thankful to farmer Louie for accepting me here,” says Patrick.
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“It’s easier to give money than time to shine a light on a cause. But towards the end of our lives, hopefully we live to be a 100 (his father is 98), we should leave something, right? We’ve been blessed. What do we give back? Money is not enough. It’s easy to give the money. We should also leave inspiration.”
After all, purpose and inspiration are what Louie and his urban farmers harvest from their little farm, and all the urban farms they have nurtured in the concrete jungle. *
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